Henry P. Bueno v. United States of America R. W. Little Co., Inc., a California Corporation and San Diego Sandblasting, Inc., a California Corporation

Henry Bueno, the plaintiff, worked for San Diego Sandblasting Inc. (San Diego). In 1979, San Diego and R. W. Little Co. (Little) jointly contracted with the government to provide sandblasting services at the Naval Station in Long Beach, California. Bueno was assigned to work on a vessel, YFD-71, owned by the United States. On August 9, 1979, the day shift employees of Little and San Diego discovered a fire in the hold of YFD-71. Mr. Fredrickson, the foreman of Little, entered the hold to determine the cause of the fire. He discovered that some planks used in the scaffolding were smoldering. Upon leaving the hold he ordered Bueno to get respirators to protect against the smoke. Fredrickson and the other employees waited outside the hold for the smoke to clear. After an approximately ten minute wait, the workers were able to re-enter the hold to remove the smoldering boards.

Bueno re-entered the hold after the planks had been removed. He fell through the space left open after the removal of the scaffolding. As a result of the accident, Bueno suffered a severe concussion and a badly broken hand. He has been unable to return to his job as a sandblaster.

The fire which led to Bueno’s…